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Marshfield Monument

Address: 435 S. Central Ave., Marshfield Contact: 715-384-5575, 800-445-5112, or marshfieldmonuments.com. Established: 1895 Top executive: Brian Hopperdietzel Employees: 10 Marshfield Monument is a full-service monument company that designs, engraves and restores memorials. The company is family-owned and does all custom-made work, from computer graphics and hand-etching to sand blasting and “cemetery-straightening” of memorials. Nathan Anderson has worked at Marshfield Monument for a little more than 10 years. He learned his skills from Brian Hopperdietzel, who taught Anderson computer drafting. He also uses computer programming for designing memorials. There are several types of memorials: upright, slant, bevel, flush marker and cremation style monument. The biggest change in Anderson’s work is utilizing the computerized laser. “The laser saves time,” he said. “No two (memorials) are the same; that’s what keeps it interesting, and I’d rather take extra time for quality.”

Nathan Anderson works on setting up text for a stone at Marshfield Monument. / Laura Hiller/Gannett Central Wisconsin Media

MARSHFIELD — Marshfield Monument is one of the oldest Marshfield businesses that’s still doing business in its original location in the city of Marshfield.

According to primary owner Brian Hopperdietzel, Marshfield Monument is a full service monument company, which includes monument engraving, lettering, design, etching and restoration of memorials.

It’s been a monument company since 1895. That’s when Louis Schmidt owned the company and employed two men, Ed Beck and John Rhodes. The Rhodes family owned the business from 1938 until Hopperdietzel’s parents, John and Joyce Hopperdietzel, bought the company in 1977. Brian has been primary owner for the past seven years, although he started working for his parents in 1985.

Today, most markers are designed by computer and engraved by sandblasting. Marshfield Monument will design and engrave memorials. The company doesn’t outsource any of its work, doing in-house designing, hand-etching, sand blasting — everything for the memorials on-site, Hopperdietzel said.

The company also will go out to cemeteries and do “cemetery straightening” if a memorial is crooked or falling, and will pressure-wash memorials with a bio-degradable cleanser, he said.

Seven years ago, Marshfield Monument expanded into the former restaurant next to the Rogers Cinema. The main showroom is located there, but the business has made changes to keep up with modern technology.

About a year ago, Marshfield Monuments implemented a computerized laser. The laser can be used on wood, steel, glass, plastic, marble and urns, Hopperdietzel said. The computer graphics are done at the Marshfield location, and Hopperdietzel uses a specific computer monument designing program.

The monuments (memorials) are granite and most are domestic granite found in the U.S., in quarries, but the black granite is found in other areas of the world.

“I like the domestic granite,” Hopperdietzel said. “I like to keep the U.S. labor market in mind,” he said.

Marshfield Monument services about 1,000 families a year in an 80-mile radius around Marshfield. About 40 to 45 percent of the business is pre-needs customers, Hopperdietzel said.

“No matter what size a memorial is, we do one memorial at a time; we treat everyone the same. We’d much rather put out quality than quantity, and we do everything in-house,” he said.